In ecology, a niche (pronounced "nich," "neesh" or "nish")[1] is a term describing the relational position of a species or population in its ecosystem[1]. Lichens (ˈlaɪkən or /lɪtʃən/ are symbiotic associations of a Fungus (the mycobiont with a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont also known as Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( A shorthand definition is that a niche is how an organism makes a living. The ecological niche describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (e. g. , by growing when resources are abundant, and predators, parasites and pathogens are scarce) and how it in turn alters those same factors (e. g. , limiting access to resources by other organisms, acting as a food source for predators and a consumer of prey)[2].
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The different dimensions, or plot axes, of a niche represent different biotic and abiotic variables. These factors may include descriptions of the organism's life history, habitat, trophic position (place in the food chain), and geographic range. The term life history has been given many meanings in several scientific fields A habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits" is an Ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular Species. Food chains, also called food networks and/or trophic networks, describe the feeding relationships between species within an Ecosystem. According to the competitive exclusion principle, no two species can occupy the same niche in the same environment for a long time. In Community ecology, the competitive exclusion principle, sometimes referred to as Gause's Law of competitive exclusion or just Gause's Law
The word "niche" is derived from the Middle French word nicher, meaning to nest. Middle French (le moyen français is a historical division of the French language which covers the period from (roughly 1340 to 1611. The term was coined by the naturalist Joseph Grinnell in 1917, in his paper "The niche relationships of the California Thrasher. Joseph Grinnell (1877 - 1939 was a field biologist and Zoologist. "[3] However, it was not until 1927 that Charles Sutherland Elton, a British ecologist, gave the first working definition of the niche concept. Charles Sutherland Elton ( 29 March 1900 &ndash 1 May 1991) was an English zoologist and animal ecologist The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of He is credited with saying: "[W]hen an ecologist says 'there goes a badger,' he should include in his thoughts some definite idea of the animal's place in the community to which it belongs, just as if he had said, 'there goes the vicar. Badger is the Common name for any animal of three subfamilies which belong to the family Mustelidae: the same Mammal family as the '"[4]
The niche concept was popularized by the zoologist G. Evelyn Hutchinson in 1958[5]. George Evelyn Hutchinson (January 30 1903 – May 17 1991 was an Anglo-American Zoologist known for his studies of freshwater Lakes and considered Hutchinson wanted to know why there are so many different types of organisms in any one habitat.
The full range of environmental conditions (biological and physical) under which an organism can exist describes its fundamental niche. As a result of pressure from, and interactions with, other organisms (e. g. superior competitors), species are usually forced to occupy a niche that is narrower than this, and to which they are mostly highly adapted. An adaptation is a characteristic of an Organism that has been favored by Natural selection and This is termed the realized niche. "Realized Niche Width" is a phrase relating to Ecology defining the actual space that an Organism inhabits The ecological niche has also been termed by G.E. Hutchinson a "hypervolume. George Evelyn Hutchinson (January 30 1903 – May 17 1991 was an Anglo-American Zoologist known for his studies of freshwater Lakes and considered " This term defines the multi-dimensional space of resources (i. e. , light, nutrients, structure, etc. ) available to (and specifically used by) organisms. The term adaptive zone was coined by George Simpson, and refers to a set of ecological niches that may be occupied by a group of species that exploit the same resources in a similar manner. (After Root, 1967. )
It should be noted that Hutchinson's "niche" (a description of the ecological space occupied by a species) is subtly different from the "niche" as defined by Grinnell (an ecological role, that may or may not be actually filled by a species—see vacant niches). The issue of what exactly defines a vacant niche and whether they exist in Ecosystems is the subject of some considerable controversy
Different species can hold similar niches in different locations and the same species may occupy different niches in different locations. The Australian grasslands species, though different from those of the Great Plains grasslands, occupy the same niche. [6] Once a niche is left vacant, other organisms can fill into that position. For example, the niche that was left vacant by the extinction of the tarpan has been filled by other animals (in particular a small horse breed, the konik). The Tarpan, Equus ferus ferus, was the Eurasian Wild horse. The last specimen of this species died in captivity in Ukraine in 1876 Konik Podlaskie Voivodeship When plants and animals are introduced into a new environment, they can occupy the new niches or niches of native organisms, outcompete the indigenous species, and become a serious pest.
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References
- ^ a b Definition of niche - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. The term niche differentiation (synonymous with niche segregation, niche separation and niche partitioning) as it applies to the field of Ecology In Evolutionary biology, fitness landscapes or adaptive landscapes are used to visualize the relationship between Genotypes (or Phenotypes and A habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits" is an Ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular Species. Climate change in the American state of Washington is a subject of study and projection today Retrieved on 2007-07-26. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 657 - Battle of Siffin. 811 - Battle of Pliska; Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus
- ^ Lomolino, Mark V. ; Brown, James W. (1998). Biogeography. Sunderland, Mass: Sinauer Associates. ISBN 0-87893-073-6.
- ^ Grinnell, J. (1917). "The niche-relationships of the California Thrasher". Auk 34: 427-433.
- ^ Elton, C. S. (2001). Animal Ecology. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226206394.
- ^ Hutchinson, G. E. (1957). "Concluding remarks" (PDF). Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology 22 (2): 415-427.
- ^ [1]
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